BEYOND AVONWHAT YOU MISSED

Authoritarianism is a principle of blind submission to authority, as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action. In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite who are not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian systems do not allow freedoms of speech, press or religion.

I have written the Beyond Avon section for three years hoping to inform RC students with news happening in the United States and around the world. I was lucky enough to be born in Belgium and live for seven years in England and two years in Australia. These experiences forced me to look at the world from many different points of view. I’ve seen the world through the eyes of the dramatic and pessimistic British, the outgoing but always chill Aussies and the proud and passionate eyes of my first-generation Icelandic grandma.

A 17-year old Afghan boy under suspicion for raping and murdering a 19-year-old medical student in Freiburg, Germany this October was arrested. The German government, specifically Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has ordered Germans to not use the crime as an excuse to harm migrants or exploit the crime, “for incitement and conspiracy propaganda".

The largest ever all-female expedition to go to Antarctica set sail for Antarctica on Friday. The expedition is sponsored by the Homeward Bound Initiative, an Australian program hoping to have more women in top science jobs around the world.

18-year old Abdul Ali Artan, a Somali refugee living in the US and studying logistics management at the College of Business at Ohio State University, injured 11 people and one person critically by ramming his car into a group of pedestrians at Ohio State University then stabbing others before police shot and killed him on Monday.

Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday night due to his explosive campaign that challenged the importance of government experience for a presidential candidate and influenced many voters that were disillusioned with the current state of Washington

According to an observational study by UC San Diego of 12 million Facebook users, being active on social media is correlated with living longer if social media is used to enhance and maintain real-world friendships.

CO2 levels in the atmosphere passed the 400 million parts per million benchmark in 2015 for the first time in recorded history and 2016 will be the first full year to exceed this CO2 benchmark the World Meteorological Organization reported.

Russian and Syrian warplanes have stopped airstrikes in the city of Aleppo ahead of a humanitarian pause on Thursday that will allow rebels and civilians to leave the eastern part of the city safely through humanitarian corridors.

Bob Dylan, the musician known for his protest and folk songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin” won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. He became the first musician to win this award creating a debate about the artistic value of song lyrics in comparison to poems and novels.

The Washington Post released a video on Friday from 2005 of Donald Trump making lewd comments about women when Trump was appearing as a guest star on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives". In the video, he says, “you can do anything” to women “when you’re a star.”

Since August, people in South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Upstate New York have reported suspicious incidents concerning people dressed as clowns. The clown scare extended to major universities with clown sightings being shared on social media at Penn State University on Monday night.